Growing companies are looking to expand their businesses worldwide. But this will be a problem if their content is in one language while their target market speaks in another. Hence the need for a multilingual content marketing strategy.
Multilingual content marketing is the process of creating marketing content in multiple languages to reach a wider audience.
Multilingual content comes in many forms — social media posts, blogs, infographics, videos, etc.
Why Do You Need a Multilingual Content Marketing Strategy?
In today’s global content marketing, you need a solution to the declining traditional marketing effectiveness. It’s crucial to have a content marketing strategy that considers the diversified languages of the foreign markets. With almost half of the world’s population now online, a large portion of your target market is likely located outside your home country.
However, simply translating your content is not enough to engage customers from different cultures. To be successful, you need to create content that resonates with the local audience — the kind of content that touches their core. Meaning recognizing the customs and values of your target market and understanding the differences in the way people communicate in their languages.
Challenges in Developing a Multilingual Content Marketing Strategy
One of the most important aspects of developing any strategy is understanding the challenges you’ll face. By knowing what challenges exist, you can create a plan to overcome them and make your project more successful. Understanding the challenges upfront can help you avoid making costly mistakes further down the road.
Here are the challenges you may face as you develop your multilingual content marketing strategy:
Choosing the right target language for foreign audiences
There are many factors to consider in choosing the target language – the country’s dominant language, the locations of your target audience, and the type of content you’re producing. For example, if you’re targeting audiences in Europe, you’ll need to consider whether French or German would be the primary language to use. Each language has its unique nuances and meanings.
Translation blunders
Not all concepts have an equivalent in every language. One common mistake in the translation process is using direct translations of idioms or slang, which can cause confusion or even offense. Another is failing to look at different writing conventions, such as word order or the use of pronouns.
Cultural Differences
Besides translation, cultural differences can also impact how a message is received. For example, what might be seen as humorous in one culture might be considered offensive in another.
Localizing Content
Different markets have different preferences for local news, sports, and entertainment. As a result, it can be difficult to produce content that appeals to a wide range of viewers. Also, high-performance hosting is essential for streaming video content in multiple languages. It can be a costly investment and may not be feasible for all marketplaces.
Promoting your content effectively in the local market
There are some reasons why it can be difficult to promote your content in the local market.
For one, different markets often have different preferences for content. What works in one market cannot be guaranteed success in another, so it can be difficult to develop a strategy that will be effective across multiple markets. Another reason is that local markets often have different levels of competition, so it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd.
These challenges are daunting, for sure. But they can be addressed when you craft a multilingual content marketing strategy following the guide below.
How to Develop a Successful International Content Marketing Strategy
Understand Your Core Message
A company’s core message is the heart of its identity – it is the essence of who they are and what they do.
When expanding into new markets, companies must take the time to understand their core message. It will ensure that the company’s values are communicated effectively to new audiences. Without a clear understanding of its core message, a company risks delivering an incoherent or inauthentic message that fails to connect with potential customers.
Remember: Translating your message into other languages will only be successful if you start with a strong foundation.
Study Your Target Audience and Their Locality
When developing any content marketing strategy, the first step is thorough market research. Consider their age, gender, location, education level, and income. These are the basics. But if it’s a multilingual content marketing strategy, you should not fail to analyze their values, customs, and beliefs. All of these factors greatly influence the way they respond.
It’s also necessary to understand the local market where your target audience is located. It includes understanding the local language, customs, and culture. Only then can you develop content that truly resonates with your local audience.
Recognize Cultural Differences and Respect Them
When you’re creating content for an international market, it’s important to recognize that there are cultural differences between countries. You must understand these cultural nuances and genuinely respect them. The last thing you want is to offend your target markets which may end up demanding an apology and boycotting your product.
Hofstede’s dimensions of cultural difference include power distance (the extent to which people defer to authority figures), individualism vs. collectivism (whether people see themselves as primarily part of a group or as individuals), and uncertainty avoidance (how comfortable people are with ambiguity and change).
Understanding these cultural differences can help your business tailor content relevant and acceptable to your international audience.
Promote Recognizable Local Figures
When you’re promoting your content in a foreign market, it’s often helpful to use recognizable local figures.
There are a few reasons why this is effective.
- Celebrities, athletes, and politicians have a large following on social media, which means their endorsement of your product or service can help you quickly reach many people.
- When someone famous and respectable promotes something, it automatically lends credibility and legitimacy to your brand, which can persuade people who may not have been otherwise interested in checking out your product or service.
Using high-profile individuals in your marketing materials can help you stand out from the competition and grab attention in an unfamiliar marketplace.
Produce Localized Content
As the term suggests, localized content is content that has been specifically designed for a particular geographic region. You can do this with the right keywords, culturally relevant imagery, translated content, etc. The goal is to make the content as relevant and engaging as possible for people in that region. Localized content will help in search engine optimization (SEO), lead generation, and brand awareness.
Target Potential Customers with Paid Ads
Paid advertising is a form of marketing where businesses pay to display their ads on Google, Facebook, YouTube, or other platforms. Paid ads can be an effective way to reach new customers and grow your business.
However, beware of invasive advertising techniques as they can backfire. People don’t like being bombarded with too many invasive ads.
Construct a Compelling Value Proposition
A value proposition is a brand’s message or company’s promise of value to its customers. It is a strategic statement that defines the company’s competitive edge by articulating the unique combination of benefits that they provide to the target market.
Your value proposition should be customer-centric, clearly articulating how the company’s products or services solve the customer’s specific needs and problems better than the competition. It should be concise, persuasive, and supported by concrete evidence.
A successful brand communicates a value proposition essential for achieving brand identity recognition.
Work with Native Translators and Copywriters
Why?
There are several reasons why working with native translators and copywriters is preferable to working with non-native translators.
- Native translators have a much better command of their language. With this, they’re more likely to produce high-quality translations and copies that are accurate and free of errors.
- Native translators are generally more familiar with the culture and context of the target audience, which helps to ensure that the final product will resonate well with them.
- A team of native translators and copywriters can help create a more cohesive overall branding strategy, as everyone will be on the same page in terms of messaging and style.
If you keep these guiding principles in mind, you’ll be well on your way to developing a successful multilingual marketing strategy. You can ensure that your content is relevant, engaging, and persuasive no matter its language.
How Can Content Management Systems Help in Multilingual Content Marketing Strategy?
Content management systems (CMS) offer high-performance hosting, which can be extremely helpful in a multilingual content marketing strategy. By providing high-performance hosting, CMS can help ensure that your website loads quickly and smoothly, no matter where your visitors are located in the world.
It is essential for visitors from non-English speaking countries, as they may not be able to wait for a slow-loading website. In addition, high-performance hosting can also help ensure that your website is always up and running, even during high traffic periods. It can be a lifesaver for businesses that rely on their website to generate leads and sales.
Content Management Tools for Multilingual Campaigns
You must employ different social media channels as different territories display different online behavior patterns. With the help of tools and platforms, you will know where your target market is most active.
The following tools have features that support multiple languages to streamline your multilingual content strategy.
- BuzzSomo
- Sitecore
- Drupal
- Hubspot
- Kontentino
- Trello
- Landingi
- Brosix
- Mailbird
Today, more than ever, businesses need to think about reaching their audiences in multiple languages. With the rise of global communication and the proliferation of content across the internet, companies must be able to connect with consumers in their native tongues.
With the guiding principles above, your multilingual content marketing strategy can be a powerful driver of growth and put you at a key competitive advantage.
FAQs
Here are other frequently asked questions about multilingual content marketing that we have not discussed in the article.
Marketing is all about creating a connection with your audience, and language plays a vital role in that process. The words you use can help build rapport and trust, or they can create distance and mistrust. They can make your products and services seem more desirable or make them seem less so.
1. Know your target audience. You need to understand who your target customers are and what their needs and wants are.
2. Define your objectives. What do you hope to achieve with this campaign? Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, increase sales, etc.?
3. Choose the right channels. Not all channels will be effective for reaching your target audience. Choose the ones that will be most effective based on who your target customers are and what you’re trying to achieve.
4. Produce high-quality content. You want to attract attention, provide value, and increase the retention rate.
Localization is the process of adapting a product or service to meet the linguistic, cultural, and legal requirements of a specific region or market. Globalization is the process of standardizing a product or service to meet the global needs of consumers.
The key difference between localization and globalization is that localization looks at the unique needs of each region, while globalization looks at the universal needs of all consumers. Localization requires more time and effort, but it results in a more tailored product or service that meets the specific needs of each region. Globalization is faster and easier to implement, but it can lead to products and services that may not suit specific areas.
